Why agriculture industry hates Chipotle

'It's done in a cartoon because you won't find that in a meatpacking plant'

Published: 10/06/2013 at 12:46 AM

(Politico) People love Chipotle’s “The Scarecrow” — a touching animated short film that’s basically a polemic on industrial food.

The agriculture industry hates it.

But the fast-growing burrito chain doesn’t care. The company’s indifference has been on display in recent days as it stands by its latest viral Web video, which portrays the industry as rampant with animal mistreatment and questionable production practices — all set to the haunting cover of “Pure Imagination” sung by Grammy-winner Fiona Apple.

The video, which has climbed to nearly 7 million combined views, is part of the 20-year-old, 1,500-plus location company’s Food With Integrity advertising campaign, which advocates sustainable, locally sourced and hormone-, antibiotic- and genetically modified organism-free products, while portraying other production practices in a negative light.